On August 22, an IED, which had been planted by ISIS cells, struck a vehicle of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the village of al-Hawaij west of the al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq. The terrorist group claimed that four SDF fighters were killed in the attack.
In a second attack, a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near an oil tanker of the SDF in the village of Juma east of the al-Omar oil fields. Amaq said that ISIS fighters chased the driver of the tanker, who survived the explosion, and executed him.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that warplanes of the US-led coalition had killed three ISIS fighters in a series of airstrikes on the town of al-Baghuz, which is located few kilometers south of al-Omar oil fields. The airstrikes were likely a response to the attacks of ISIS cells.